The Things That Matter
by MisawaDaichiFan
Summary: In every persons life, there are always people who care about them. Ash's life could have gone many ways depending on the actions of those that care about him. Watch as Ash May Brock and Max react to what happens around them.
1. Pre Battle Talks

Yes, this is a Pokemon fic I just made. I have great ideas for it.

For those who don't know, it is after the episode "Love Petalburg Style", and before "Balance of Power".

Enjoy! Please tell me what you think.

* * *

"Ah, great sleep." Ash whispered as he woke up. He tried his best to slick his black hair back, but to no avail. It was still as messy as usual. In any case, today was the day he would get his next gym badge! His Pokemon had been healed yesterday, so they would be in tip-top shape. Norman would be a tough opponent to defeat, but Ash had faith that his Pokemon would be triumphant.

"Pikapi!" his favorite electric mouse chirped as he fetched his master's hat and gave it to him. "Pichuu pi pikachu pikapi." Pikachu jumped on the sleeping bag letting his friend/trainer pet him.

Ash petted Pikachu and put on his hat. "Are you ready to beat Norman Pikachu?" Ash fired his Pokemon up.

Pikachu smiled, and did a small jab forward. "Pichaa!" Pikachu replied confidently.

"All right Pikachu lets go get something great before our match." And with that, he and his Pokemon walked out of the room to find get some breakfast.

"Your not going to win you know." Max told Ash for the umpteenth time.

Ash tolerated this only because it was Max's own father he was about to battle. While this fact didn't make it any less annoying, it did give Ash a reason to just eat his pancakes quietly.

Brock protested though. "Now Max, we don't know that yet because they haven't-"

"Of course dad is going to win. Ash may be good, but Dad is good enough to be in the Elite Four." Max cut Brock off. He had been bragging about his dads accomplishments all morning.

May was not to be heard in the conversation. She had been having a hard time thinking whom she should root for. Ash would probably need the rooting more than dad, and she had been traveling with him for a while now, but the thought of rooting against her own father seemed like an about-face. Norman's own daughter turning on him, and turning on a Hoenn League Gym Leader no less! The press would have a field day on that. On the other hand, She didn't want to let Ash down, but it was her dad he was going up against, so he could use all the help he could get. Besides, he was the one who mentored her when she was just a beginner. He even still gave her some tips from time to time, but her dad was the one who wanted him to do that in the first place…

'…Too confusing…' May thought with the confusion showing in her eyes now.

Max noticed this in between gloating for his father; "Hey May, are you all right? You look like a Zubat used Supersonic on you."

"Oh, it's nothing!" May replied only too quickly. "I was just thinking about err, uh…today's match toda-um, where did Brock go?" she asked her brother and friend.

"Well, you must have been really focused on how dads going to kick Ash's butt today if you didn't notice him leave after he finished his breakfast. He finished it kind of fast too. Anyway, I can't blame you for being distracted; imagining dad winning can be pretty distracting." Max grinned at his ability to get praise for his dad in there.

"Well, where did he go?" May asked Max and Ash, trying to change the subject. She didn't want Max to know that she had mixed feeling about the match. He wouldn't let her live it down!

"I dunno. He did whisper something to Ash before he left though. Ash, what did he say?" Max asked the Pikachu-equipped trainer.

"Oh, he went to the Pokemon Ce-" at that time Ash covered his mouth. Brock had told him not to tell Max or May for fear that his ear would get in the way of his "beloved" Nurse Joy.

"Oh, so that's how it is! Trying to protect his ear from my hand? Not on my watch! Come on May let's catch him. If we hurry, we can still make it to the Pokemon Center before he has a chance to escape my hand!" Max suggested loudly, while running out of the campsite.

"Max wait! You food is going to get cold!" May shouted while running after her nimble brother.

"Hey what are you guys doing? You can't just leave me here!" Ash's voice echoed through the darkness. "Oh man, I'd better go after them." Ash muttered as he tried to get up.

Hopefully, nobody would try to steal what was left of their food.

Hopefully.

-------

"So Nurse Joy, what do you say we go out for a night on the town tonight. I can be just a charming as Norman you know." Brock spoke with a sparkle in his smile. 

"Uh, I have shifts tonight." Joy lamely replied.

"Then how about tomorrow?"

"Um, I have shifts tomorrow too…?"

"Well then-AHHH! Not the ear, not the ear!" Brock cried out as Max pulled his ear in the opposite direction from Joy.

"Don't make me shift your ear today." Max pun-ished Brock.

May and Ash got inside the Pokemon Center ad saw the horror that was Max's hand. They both sweat-dropped as Brock crawled to Ash saying, "You promised you wouldn't tell!"

"It was an accident I tell you! I wasn't paying attention!"

"Well, there's something new." Max muttered underneath his breath. Ash ignored that.

"So now that we are in the Pokemon center, what are we going to do now? It's still a couple of hours before Ash's battle with dad." May asked innocently.

"Well, you could give your Pokemon a quick checkup. Our Nurse Joy can do it pretty fast." Max suggested.

Ash however, was bewildered at this statement. His Pokemon were healed of injury last night. "What do you mean? My Pokemon have already been healed."

"True. But remember whom you are going up against. I'd suggest a quick checkup to see if my Pokemon were in tip-top shape before going up against my dad." Max gloated. Now, Ash was starting to get a little annoyed.

"My Pokemon have never needed to go to the Pokemon Center before a match in the past, why would they need to now?" Ash bounced back.

"Well, you probably didn't need to because the gym leaders you faced in the past weren't as good as my dad." Max told his taller friend.

"I've fought some of my toughest battles in Pokemon Gyms without going to a Center even when they already did some kind of work before the match. Like against Clair or Blaine, my Pokemon had already been doing something active!"

"Was it your Charizard that did the battling?" Max inquired.

"…Yes, but that's not the point!" Ash retaliated.

"Look Ash, I'm just saying that your Pokemon would need to be at top condition to get through half of my dads-"

"Hey Max." Ash coyly asked in a sort of creepy way. "How would you like to talk to Professor Oak?"

"What? Really? That would be awesome, can you do that?" Max asked getting exited. The thought of seeing Professor Oak made him ecstatic. He loved him almost as much as he loved his dad.

"Ur, yeah, I was just about to call him. So what do you say?" Ash proposed while thinking in his head 'And I won't have to take these insults!'

"Definitely! Lets go to the phone now!" Max cheered as he grabbed Ash's arm and headed toward the videophone.

Ash dialed Oaks number, and sure enough…

-------

It was a nice spring day outside. 

Professor Oak was inside.

Of course, he knew what he was doing. He had already fed the Pokemon outside, and was now feeding the Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander he might need to give to Pokemon trainers just starting their journeys.

'It's a good thing I could get along fine without anyone else before Tracey came along, or this would have been hard work' Professor Oak thought to himself while getting out the Pokemon food. Of course, he could use some food as well, seeing as his stomach was growling.

"I'd better go to Delia's later, I'm getting hungry myself. I should finish this up quickly." He said to himself as he put the Pokemon food in the bowls.

Ring-ring-ring! Ring-ring-ring! Phone Call! Phone Call!

Professor Oak had just finished putting the food for Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander in the bowls when he had heard the phone.

"I wonder who that could be?" Prof. Oak wondered to himself as he picked up the phone. When the viewing screen turned on, he saw the smiling face of Ash Ketchum!

"Why hello there Ash! How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great Professor! Look at the badges I have!" Ash exclaimed while showing Oak the case where he kept his badges. "And I'm going for my fifth today." He finished.

"That's great Ash! I wish you lu-"

"You should wish him all the luck you can Professor Oak. He's going up against my dad. Going up against my dad is going to be tough.

…

HIYA PROFESSOR OAK! I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN" Max gushed at the celebrity/Research Mogul in front of him.

Professor Oak just stood where he stood a bit dumbstruck. "Err, thank you, and who might this be?" he asked Ash.

"This is Mays brother Max." Ash told his older mentor.

"I'm a huge fan of yours!" Max continued to gush.

"So I've heard Max." Oak sweat-dropped as he saw the little boy gushing at him. This incident didn't make him feel uncomfortable, as he had gotten this reaction many a time before. It was however, a bit annoying.

After looking at Oak and Max, Ash made a sigh of relief and said "Well, it looks like you two are hitting it off great. I'll just leave you two alone now."

"Wha, what? Ash what do you mean?" Oak stuttered. He remembered that this thing could go on for hours on end!

"I'll talk to you later Professor Oak! Have fun!"

'Sorry Professor Oak, but I want to have some time without the criticism. Please understand' Ash thought frantically as he went to join May and Brock wherever they were.

"Ash, wait! I-"

"Wow, are those Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander! I've heard so much about them, I'd love to inspect Bulbasaur's bulb, and I…" Max continued on and on.

'Help me…' Professor Oak thought with tears going down his face.

-------

1 Hour Later

-------

"Alright, I'll put him on. Aaaash!" Max called out. Professor Oak looked like he could eat Pokemon food now.

"Yeah?"

"Here's the phone Ash, I'm finished talking with…Professor Oak" he gushed out the name of his favorite celebrity.

"Okay then…Hey Professor Oak. Did you enjoy the talk?" Ash asked him smiling.

"I would have enjoyed eating some food a lot more." He whined. "So Ash, your gym battle is soon?"

"Yep, in about a couple hours. Why?" Ash asked him, genuinely confused.

"Well, I figured since I'm going to be eating at your moms today, I might as well tell you that I was able to get out what Pokemon Max's father Norman has! I was able to get out some information from Max because he loves me so much!" Oak grinned in triumph. He could help Ash, and getting back at Max for that long "chat" even a little bit was an attractive option indeed.

"Um, that's really nice Professor Oak, but I already know what Pokemon he's going to use. Norman told me last night." Ash broke to Prof. Oak.

"Oooohhh. Back to the drawing board. But how about you switch some of your old Pokemon?" he suggested raising his hand.

"Huh?"

"I mean it Ash. I could send you back a couple of your Pokemon you left with me! I bet Noctowls Hypnosis attack is an attack Slakoth would welcome! Or how about your Heracross? Being Bug-type _and_ Fighting-type, it could be advantageous against Vigoroth. And your Snorlax! A Battle between Snorlax and Slaking would be a real Clash of the Ti-"

"Whoah, hold on Professor Oak, I don't need all of this!" Ash sheepishly cut off his mentor. It was all very nice, but Ash had already had a strategy against Normans Pokemon.

"Hm? Why not? Your other Pokemon have more experience than your newer ones." Oak offered the young trainer. Ash however, shook his head.

"No, I'm going to use the Pokemon I caught here. I left all of my Pokemon at your lab for a reason. I wanted to start off anew. I wanted to see if I could win the Hoenn League using Hoenn region Pokemon. That's what I wanted then, and I'm not back down. Besides, I have great Pokemon with me. I have faith in them, that they will win." Ash told his very proud Professor.

"Well Ash, it's nice to see that you're really sticking to your promise." Professor Oak encouraged him. "However, I will say this." he continued. "Your Pokemon really miss you. Every since you left with only Pikachu, they've been kinda trainer-sick if you know what I mean." he revealed. This came as a shock to Ash. He came a bit closer to the videophone and said:

"...You mean their sick of me?"

"NO! Oh dear Ash, all these years, and you still don't get it! What I mean is that your Pokemon miss you. It was a play on words using the slang homesick."

"Well jeez, tell me next time!"

"Anyway, if you ever wanted yo switch out your Hoenn Pokemon with your older Pokemon, you can always do so. I'm sure that your other Pokemon would welcome seeing Hoeen region Pokemon. Now if you will excuse me, there's something yummy waiting for me at your mothers house!"

"Okay then. Say "hi" to Tracey for me!" Ash replied as he was ready to hang up the phone.

"Well, I can't do that Ash. Tracey isn't here right now." Oak revealed to him.

"What? Where is he?" Ash inquired. It was very unusual for Tracy to not be at Oaks lab. He wondered where he might be.

"Oh, I can't tell you Ash. It's a secret. You will know very soon though, I'm sure." Prof. Oak smiled as he picked up his hat, and put it on.

"Hm…well, okay. Later Professor Oak!"

"Goodbye Ash! Take Care!

-------

Back at the campsite, a certain trio was eating like crazy. 

"I can't believe they left all this food out here Jess!"

"I know James, no wonder the twerps are so strong when they fight us, they eat so well!"

"Less talkin', more eatin'! We'll need all da enegy we can get if were gonna capture Pikachu!"

Jessie, James and Meowth all yelled out at the same time: "Looks like Team Rockets stuffing up again!"

"Wobbuffet!"

* * *

End of Chapter 1 

So, did you all enjoy it? Was it good? Bad? I hope you will all reply and give me a review.


	2. No Mankeying Around!

Entry 2: No Mankeying Around!

'I can't believe that someone or something already ate the rest of my food…' May thought sadly as she saw Ash and Norman get ready for the match. The people who ate their food apparently didn't do anything else. It was very strange; May thought about brushing it off as just being a hungry Pokemon, but eating her food was simply an injustice.

"Well Norman, are you ready?" Ash asked the Gym Leader as he walked to his place on the field. Brock, May, and Max were on the sideline getting ready to cheer. Well, Brock was; Max was rooting for his dad of course, and May was still torn in the middle. Caroline was standing near them, and Kenny, being the referee for the match got to his position in the middle of the ring.

"Of course Ash. I hope you give it your all." Norman replied happily. He knew he was going to get a great battle from Ash.

"This will be a three-on-three Pokemon match between Gym Leader Norman and the challenger Ash Ketchum. Only the challenger will be able to switch Pokemon during this battle." Kenny announced the formalities.

"Man, I cannot wait to finally see dad battle!" Max exclaimed jubilated. His father had always forbidden him from seeing his Gym Battles, so this was the first time he had actually seen him battle.

"Ready…Begin!" Kenny yelled.

"Slakoth, I chose you!" Norman shouted, releasing the lazy Pokemon from his Pokeball. Slakoth was THE Lazy Pokemon: It is even classified that way in the Pokedex. The somewhat short Pokemon seemed to move about lazily, from right to left, just a little bit.

"Alright Pikachu, you're up!" Ash ordered, and Pikachu leapt to the battlefield.

The two Pokemon simply looked on, staring each other down. They both awaited the call of their respective trainers.

Ash decided to strike first. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

"Pika!"

Pikachu's first move was like many of it's previous ones: Speed. Pikachu was a very fast Pokemon naturally, so it really was the obvious choice to do. Pikachu leapt forward and started to run toward Slakoth.

As Pikachu attempted to move toward Slakoth, Ash noticed that Slakoth wasn't moving that much at all! In fact, all it was doing was swaying to the right and swaying to the left.

"Okay Slakoth, move a little to the side." Norman commanded.

"Slakoth" the Pokemon responded lazily, and moved to the right. Pikachu's Quick Attack went right past Slakoth.

"What/Pika!" Ash and Pikachu shouted, completely taken aback at what had happened. Quick Attack usually always worked against slower Pokemon, and you couldn't get much slower than a Slakoth!

"Whoa, how did Slakoth do that?" Max exclaimed, surprised that Pikachu's Quick Attack could be evaded by using so little speed.

"But, Pikachu's Quick Attack always gets it's target" May remarked at the sight of Slakoth barely moving at all, while dodging the Quick Attack.

"Okay Slakoth, now use Shadow Ball!" Norman called out. Slakoth obeyed, and shot a ball of darkness toward Pikachu.

"Dodge it Pikachu, and use Iron Tail!" Ash commanded. Pikachu jumped up into the air once to gain momentum, and jumped twice to evade the attack. Pikachu then armored up his tail, and tried to strike Slakoth.

"Move to the side again!" Norman told his Pokemon to repeat.

Slakoth dodged Pikachu's Iron Tail, and Pikachu fell on his behind.

"Now Slakoth, use Blizzard!" Norman commanded his Pokemon. This offensive move completely caught both Ash and Pikachu by surprise. It was not just Pikachu who felt the effects of the Blizzard attack; indeed, everyone in the room felt the cold of the attack.

"M-man, th-that attack i-is s-suuu-per p-powerful!" Max remarked, himself not sure if it were a compliment of a complaint. For Ash and Pikachu, it was certainly something to complain about. Pikachu was getting snow all over his body. Ash saw this, and decided to make a choice.

"Pikachu, come back!" Ash shouted. Pikachu heard and responded by scurrying back to Ash's side. Norman smiled.

"I see you made a wise decision Ash. But who will your next Pokemon be?" Norman asked the young aspiring Pokemon trainer. Ash thought for a couple of seconds.

"I chose you, Corphish!" Ash quickly decided, allowing his crustacean Pokemon to come out of his Pokeball. The Pokemon with large pincers immediately went into a fighting position.

Brock, May, and Max were surprised by the move. "Why did you chose Corphish, Ash? Doesn't he have the disadvantage in the match?" May yelled over to him.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing May. Corphish, use Bubblebeam!" Ash told his Pokemon to do. But Norman knew how to respond.

"Slakoth, use Blizzard again!"

"Cor-phish phish phish phish!

"Slakoth slak!"

The Blizzard attack seemed to have a good effect on the Bubblebeam; the Bubbles turned to ice. They immediately kept on going off to the side, not being light enough to go all the way back to Corphish.

"Keep on using Bubblebeam, Corphish!"

"Keep up that Blizzard, Slakoth!"

"Phish phish phish!"

"Slak!"

The two moves kept on going at each other with the same results: the bubbles went off to the side somewhere, and the Blizzards force was held back enough to not do much damage to Corphish.

'This is going perfect!' Ash thought as he saw the battlefield. The frozen bubbles of the Bubblebeam were going wide. The field was almost covered in them.

'What are you thinking, Ash?' mused Norman as he saw that all of the bubbles were going everywhere. He knew Ash was thinking of something, but what? Corphish couldn't move very well on ice bubbles, at least he couldn't think; what could be the reason for such a maneuver?

"Alright Corphish, move in for a Crabhammer! But swipe it, this time!" the command came at last, Ash telling Corphish to attack Slakoth head on now.

"Slakoth, move to the side-wait a minute!" Norman exclaimed, as he saw that frozen bubbles were to the right and left of Slakoth. With Corphish able to swipe his Crabhammer attack from right to left, Slakoth couldn't do very much.

"Corphish!" Corphish said as he came in for the attack. His swipe from the side, hitting Slakoth head on.

"Slakoth!" whimpered Normans lazy Pokemon as he fainted to the ground. Kenny saw this, and put up the green flag,

"Slakoth is unable to battle, Corphish is the winner!" Kenny declared, with Ash and Corphish jumping at their victory.

Max, however, was not as cheery. "No way! How could dad lose his first match?"

"Come now Max, I think using that kind of combination against Blizzard was a fantastic move. I wouldn't have been able to counter it, even if I were attack-savvy." Caroline told her son.

"Wait a minute, why aren't you cheering for dad to win?" Max asked his mother, shocked that she would compliment her own husband's opponent during a match.

"I don't think it matters who wins the match, Max. I just think that matches should be interesting." Caroline replied with wisdom.

"Mom…" May almost whispered. If she could come over her feelings over the battle, why couldn't she?

"That was a great strategy Ash. I've never seen anything like it. But you have gone up against this Pokemon before, and you won't defeat him again." Norman started, grabbing a Pokeball.

"Oh no-" Ash muttered, knowing what was coming up next.

"Vigoroth, I chose you!" Norman shouted, allowing his Vigoroth the appear on the field. This Pokemon had a much different demeanor than Slakoth. This Pokemon lived up to its name: Vigoroth. It looked ready to battle, and looked extremely swift.

"Vigoroth, use Flamethrower on the field!" Norman told his Pokemon, and sure enough, flames came right out of its mouth and melted all of the ice-bubbles.

"Wow, Vigoroth can use Flamethrower?" Brock exclaimed, seeing the ice on the field melt instantly.

"That's awesome!" Max gushed at his father and Vigoroth.

Ash looked like he was in a pinch. "Corphish, use Bubblebeam!" Ash commanded. Corphish shot bubbles from its claws, and aimed straight at Vigoroth.

"Not this time Ash, Vigoroth use Scratch!"

Vigoroth popped the bubbles instantly while almost leaping toward Corphish.

"No, Corphish use Harden!" Ash told his Pokemon, and saw that Corphishes body shined up a bit. However, that was no enough; Vigoroth's scratch was too much, even for a Hardened Corphish. He fainted almost instantly.

"Corphish is unable to battle! Vigoroth wins!" Kenny shouted as he raised the red flag.

"Well Ash, it looks like were even now." Norman remarked, seeing Ash return Corphish to his Pokeball.

"You did a great job Corphish, just like I knew you would. Pikachu, you're up again!" Ash decided, with Pikachu running up into the ring once more. Pikachu looked healed from the last battle, and looked ready to fight as well.

"Now" Ash began "use thunderbolt!"

"Pika-chuuuuu!" Pikachu shouted aiming a shot of lightning towards Vigoroth.

"Dodge it Vigoroth! Use Scratch when you get close to Pikachu!"

Vigoroth easily dodged Pikachu's Thunderbolt. And by dodging the attack, he was able to get in closer to Pikachu as well.

"No! Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash tried to counter the slash.

Pikachu's tail glowed, as he tried to slam Vigoroth's Slash attack away. Vigoroth in turn tried to slash the Iron Tail away. Both Pokemon tried their hardest, but it was a stalemate.

"Bounce off the Iron Tail, and use Flamethrower on the rebound!" Norman commanded as Vigoroth did what he was told. An added effect was that Pikachu fell to the ground and flinched at the tactic. As Vigoroth bounced into the flamethrower, Pikachu tried to move fast enough to dodge, but to no avail.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried as he was hit with the flamethrower.

"No, Pikachu!" Ash cried out to his injured Pokemon as it tried to get up.

"Well Ash, are you ready to call it quits? Vigoroth seems to fast for Pikachu to handle." Norman questioned the young Pokemon Trainer. He didn't like seeing little kids Pokemon get beaten to a pulp, and was trying to look out for Ash and Pikachu.

"What? No, never!" Ash retaliated as he stared him and Vigoroth down. "Can you battle, Pikachu?" Ash asked his Pokemon.

Pikachu gave Ash a thumb up and nodded "Pika!" But Pikachu also suddenly stumbled a little. Ash groaned.

"Really Ash, it wouldn't be a shame if you called it quits. I'm sure if you got your Pokemon rested up a bit, you could try again next ti-"

"Come on Ash, get back in there!" May shouted out of nowhere. She was standing up, and had her right arm in the air. Max and Brock, not to mention Norman and Caroline were shocked.

"May, you traitor! How could you chose Ash over dad!" Max accused, furious that his own sister would go against her own father.

"It isn't wise to chose sides on this match May. You should just not take sides, and enjoy the match no matter what the outcome." Brock advised her, knowing that this kind of thing can ruin matches, and put things between people.

"May…" Ash almost whispered, awestruck that May would side with him-with HIM-over her own father.

May immediately backed down and sat in her seat. "But guys, Ash could use our support! All I've heard for the match was Max saying dad would win all the way." May defended herself, but said no more.

Caroline decided to put in her two cents "May, I told you that I wasn't taking sides in this match. I expect you to do the sa-"

"Wait a minute, Caroline." Norman finally said. Everyone looked at the gym leader, who had a smile on his face.

"May does have a point. Ash does need support, and May finds herself between a rock and a hard place. She does have to chose between two people she dearly cares about after all." Norman told everyone.

May blushed lightly at the line "two people she cares about dearly." 'Me, care dearly about Ash? Well, I guess we are traveling together, and he did help me out when I first started, and he is mentoring me and…' May thought, while trying to hide the blush. Brock-being one to notice blushing girls-saw this, but said nothing.

"If she wants to support Ash in this match, I can understand it." Norman smiled.

"What? Your going to just let her off the hook? Well, I guess it doesn't matter, your skill is still much better than Ash's!" Max fumed, crossing his arms across his chest.

Ash just looked at May, still in awe. "Hey May" he said across the room, and caught Mays attention. Her blush was still on her face, but Ash didn't seem to notice.

Ash smiled. "Thanks." He told her. May's blush got a little redder.

"Oh well, I…" May stuttered quietly, hoping no one would make something of it. After all, she did just support her best friend, over her own father; that may have been a good enough reason not to inquire further.

"Well Ash, are you ready to continue?" Norman asked again.

"You bet!" Ash replied, with Pikachu revitalized somewhat.

'Oh, this is so embarrassing! Maybe I should have just kept my big mouth shut…' May thought, her heart beating faster than usual.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash told his Pokemon, getting an idea. 'I hope this works…' Ash hoped in his mind.

"Vigoroth, use Slash!" Norman commanded, as Vigoroth ran towards Pikachu getting ready to strike.

"Take that attack Pikachu!" Ash shouted, much to the horror of everyone else.

"What are you doing?" Norman asked the boy, wondering if he were brain dead. Vigoroth did indeed hit Pikachu with the Slash attack.

"Exactly what I need to." Ash revealed as he saw Pikachu get hit. "Now stay on him, Pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu replied, while Vigoroth noticed that Pikachu was staying on his palm. He tried to get him off, but he tried in vain.

"Now Pikachu, Thunder!"

"Pika-Chuuuuuu!"

The Thunder hit Vigoroth all over. The attack was so powerful; it knocked him to the ground, making him faint.

"Vigoroth is unable to battle, Pikachu is the winner!" Kenny declared, but then saw the other side: Pikachu had fallen too!

"Um, okay Pikachu is also unable to battle." Kenny said, a bit surprised that both Pokemon made each other faint.

"Pikachu! That was a great battle buddy. Now have a nice rest." Ash told his Pikachu as he sat him down near his backpack.

"Return Vigoroth. That was a great battle. You deserve a long rest." Norman congratulated his Pokemon as he returned it to its Pokeball. Both trainers stared each other down.

Brock, May, Max, and Caroline watched, as the two were ready to chose their final Pokemon.

"Well, I guess it's time. I chose you, Slaking!"

"Grovyle, I chose you!"

The two Pokemon came out of their Pokeballs. Slaking was also a lazy Pokemon, and yet it could move even faster than Vigoroth. Its features could remind one of a Snorlax and Primeape combined together. It hit its fists to its chest and screamed, looking powerful as well. May and Caroline both had a look of genuine surprise; they had never seen Slaking awake before.

Grovyle was a very skinny Pokemon, thought it was fast. It held its branch in its mouth like a tooth pick, as always, and stared down his opponent. It's ability to use Leaf Blade came when he evolved from Treeko, now having leaves on his arms.

"Grovyle, use Bullet Seed!" Ash told his Pokemon. Grovyle immediately attacked.

"Grooo-vyle vyle vyle vyle!" Grovyle shouted throwing many small Bullet Seeds at his opponent.

However, Norman had no words of defense for his Slaking. Indeed, Slaking only stood his ground not moving an inch. The Bullet Seed had no effect, even though many had direct hits on Slaking.

"Slaking!" the giant Pokemon yelled while hitting his hands on his chest again.

"Whoa, that attack didn't do anything to Slaking." Max uttered in awe.

"This could be anyone's game now." Brock noted.

"Slaking, use Focus Punch!" Norman commanded. Slaking's right hand glowed, and Slaking started to almost leap toward Grovyle with speed that completely contradicted his size.

"Grovyle, jump up and use Pound!" Ash counterattacked. Grovyle did escape the Focus Punch, and jumped up for a Pound, but Slaking caught Grovyles tail, blocking the attack.

"Grovyle!"

"Now Slaking, use Seismic Toss!" Norman shouted. The giant Pokemon complied, and spun Grovyle around a number of times, getting ready to throw him.

"Grovyle, try to get out of there!" Ash tried to tell his Pokemon, but it was no use. Slaking was just too strong, and Grovyle couldn't get out of the grip.

"Sla…KING!" Slaking shouted in triumph as he tossed Grovyle to the wall. Grovyle fell to the ground, injured.

"Grovyle!" Ash shouted in alarm. Himself knowing what Seismic Toss can do, he couldn't help watching Grovyle struggling to get up.

"Alright Slaking, lets finish this! Hyper Beam!" Norman shouted at last. But what he didn't notice was Grovyle now glowing green. Everyone disregarded Slaking, and looked at Grovyle seemingly powering up.

"What is happening?" Max asked franticly. This was the part where Slaking's Hyper Beam was supposed to make Grovyle faint.

"It's…Overgrow." said Brock, looking at the Grass Pokemon gain strength.

"Overgrow? What's that?" May asked.

"When Grovyle gets to a point where it is really weak, it's ability Overgrow kicks in and gives him an extra boost." Brock explained.

"Overgrow?" Ash told himself. "Okay then, Grovyle dodge Hyper Beam!" Ash commanded.

"Gro!" Grovyle replied and immediately sprang away from his spot just evading the Hyper Beam.

"What/Slak?" Norman and Slaking muttered astonished that Grovyle had enough energy to move tat fast.

"Now Grovyle, use Leaf Blade!" Ash told his Pokemon as quickly as possible. He knew he had to waste no time in order to get a hit on Slaking. Grovyle leapt around toward Slaking and got in a hit right in Slaking's stomach.

"Slaking!" Slaking yelled in pain as it fell backwards toward Norman who looked both impressed and astonished at the same time. Slaking, however, got up immediately, holding his belly.

"I think…that was a critical hit guys." Brock remarked about Slaking's apparent pain. Max looked like a part of his world was just destroyed, while May and Caroline were simply shocked that Grovyle could do such a maneuver.

"This is it Ash." Norman observed. "The next one who gets a hit might just win this match."

"Um, yeah…" Ash replied, looking at the field. Grovyle looked pretty tired, but it also looked like Slaking took a really bad hit from the Leaf Blade. Brock's assumption was correct; it was a critical hit.

"Well Slaking, get ready for a Focus Punch." Norman issued his final order to Slaking.

"It's time for another Leaf Blade, Grovyle!" Ash shouted to his Grovyle.

Everyone on the sidelines looked on with anticipation. "This really could be it guys." Brock told May and Max, while they as well as Caroline simply looked onto the two Pokemon.

"Groooo" Grovyle said as he darted toward Slaking.

"Slaaaaa" Slaking said as he dashed toward Grovyle.

"VYLE!"

"KING!"

There was something of an explosion that had just happened in the ring. Dust went everywhere, and Grovyle and Slaking were on the opposite sides of each other. Nobody moved an inch. All eyes were on Grovyle and Slaking. They weren't moving either. They were like two warriors on a high plateau in the middle of the ocean, waiting for the other to make a move.

And the Grovyle stumbled.

"No, Grovyle!" Ash shouted as he saw his Pokemon look like he was about to fall down. "Gro…" Grovyle groaned, going a little lower.

"Well Ash, it looks like this match belongs to me." Norman spoke.

But he spoke too soon.

Slaking also stumbled, but instead of just groaning, he fell to the ground, fainted.

"Slaking…" he mumbled, with his eyes in circles.

"Oh/Ah/Wow/What!" Brock, Caroline, May, and Max all gasped respectively, as they saw the mighty King Cong go down.

"Slaking is unable to battle! Grovyle wins the battle, and Ash Ketchum has just won the match!" Kenny shouted, declaring Ash the winner.

"Alright!" Ash jumped for joy.

"Pipikachu!" Pikachu did the same.

Norman returned Slaking to his Pokeball, and smiled. "You deserve a good long rest Slaking." He told his Pokemon. Ash and Pikachu were almost dancing together, they were so happy.

"They both put up a great fight. They should both be proud of themselves." Caroline remarked, with a smile on her face.

Max kept the same look on his face when he saw Slaking hit the ground. He couldn't even believe it. His father – his OWN father – had just been defeated in a match. His entire world was spinning upside-down. 'I can't believe it! How could he lose! How could dad lose! This is impossible, this must be a bad dream!" Max told himself, still horrified that his dad had lost a match.

"Ash, that was a great battle. I can't remember the last time I had such a rush." Norman complimented Ash. That was another dagger in Max's heart. 'He lost; and he's happy!' he thought dejectedly.

"Thanks Norman. That was a great match!" Ash thanked the gym leader while returning Grovyle to his Pokeball. Norman walked up to him.

"Well Ash, I guess you earned this. This is the Balance Badge. You've earned it." Norman smiled as he handed out the badge.

That was the last straw for Max.

He immediately started running to his father and Ash.

"Thanks Norman!" Ash thanked the Gym Leader and held his hand out to get the badge. However, he did not count on Max coming out of nowhere and grabbing the badge from Norman's hand.

"What?" Ash gasped, surprised that Max would do something like this.

"Max, what are you doing?" Norman ordered his son answer, surprised that Max would do such a thing. Max just ran out the door, with Ash, Norman and the others following.

-------

"I..d-don't believe it. H-how could dad lose? It just isn't fair!" Max bawled in the jungle training room. He had locked the door, so nobody could get in.

Just then, a knock came. "Max? Come on out now, will you?" Caroline asked her crying son. She knew this must have been hard for him to take, but Max had to accept it: his dad had lost. That was just the way things went.

"No! I will never come out! Dad is invincible, he could never lose to anyone!" Max choked out. He held the badge in his hand as tightly as he could. He never wanted anyone to have it.

"Max, stop this. Dad would have to lose sooner or later. It's what happens when you are a gym leader." May tried to reason with her brother. But this attempt only mad him even angrier.

"Shut up! You should feel the same way too, but it's your fault that sad lost in the first place" Max shouted in anger.

"What!" May exclaimed at the accusation.

"What does May have to do with Norman losing a match, Max?" Brock harshly inquired. He believed that that was completely uncalled for, and that now Max was just trying to make excuses for his fathers defeat.

"You know exactly what I mean! If May hadn't decided to be a traitor, and side with Ash over dad, dad might have won! But you had to interfere, didn't you May! You had to commit an act of treason to your own dad! It's one thing for his kids to support him, but another to go against him!" Max screamed in anger. He was almost completely irrational now.

Brock noticed May back down, and saw that this was just a low blow. "Wait a minute Max, that's not fair! Norman accepted that May had a hard time deciding on who to cheer for, and accepter her decision too! But that isn't the point Max, your just making excuses now. What is the point, is that I know exactly how you feel now."

"What? What do you mean?" Max questioned.

"What I mean is I know you're going through. I was once a gym leader too you know. I have ten brothers and sisters and they couldn't stand when I lost, or was losing a match. They even tried to stop Ash from having Pikachu finish off my Onix in our Gym Battle. I know you feel hurt that your dad lost a match, but you have to accept it." Brock explained to Max. He had hoped his little speech would talk some sense into him.

"Brock…" Max said sadly. He still didn't want to accept that his dad had lost.

"Max, that's enough." Norman finally said. With that, Max froze. "You have to come out of there now. I know you find it hard to accept that I lost, but let me tell you something: I love being a gym leader. I know for a fact, that if I never lose a match, I will never grow myself." He told his son sternly. "I knew that a great trainer would come along and eventually be able to beat me. I accept that I am not invincible, and you should accept it too. And you should be glad that the person who defeated me was Ash, your friend." Norman tried to cheer Max up.

Max was silent. He had stopped crying, and was now looking at the Balance Badge. All of this was still too hard for him to take in now…

"Hey Max, it's okay. You don't have to give me the badge. I learned a lot from my battle with Norman." Ash tried to console the boy. It was then, that Max came out of the room at last.

"Dad, Ash…I'm sorry." Max told them in a reserved voice. He walked up to Ash and put his hand with the badge out in front of him. "Here's this badge, Ash. You've earned it."

Ash looked at Max who was holding the badge, and saw that he wasn't crying anymore. Ash smiled warmly at the young boy.

"Thanks Max." Ash responded happily. He then took the badge from Max's hand.

"Alright! I got a Bala-"

"Wait! Don't forget about me!" a very familiar voice cried out from the horizon. Its source was a middle-aged man with a pink headband.

"Huh? Who was that? I was just about to do my pose with my badge." Ash pouted as he looked toward the voice, as did everyone else. As the figure came more into vision, Ash and Brock knew whom the voice belonged to.

"Tracey!" Ash and Brock said at the same time looking at the green shirt and reddish-brown field shorts on the now apparent figure. "What are you doing here, Tracey?" Ash asked, completely surprised to see Tracey all the way in the Hoenn region. Was this what Professor Oak meant when he said that he "would know soon enough"?

"Well, it's a long story Ash" Tracey replied, now within talking distance. He noticed a girl clad in red with a bandana on her head, and a boy with glasses near Ash. "You two must be May and Max, right?" he asked the two newest members of Ash's group.

"Uh, yeah that's right." May answered, looking at this guy who just came out of nowhere.

"And we are their parents. I'm Norman, the Petalburg City Gym Leader, and this is my wife Caroline." Norman cut into the conversation.

"Hello there!" Caroline greeted along.

"Hi, I'm Tracey. Now Ash, your probably wondering why I'm here, right?" Tracey rhetorically asked Ash.

"Well, yeah. I mean what would you need to be doing in the Hoenn region?" Ash asked the Pokemon watcher. Just then, however, a very familiar sound came from his belly, and he blushed.

"Well, how about I tell you on a meal?" Tracey suggested.

"I think that's a good idea. Remember how the rest of our breakfast disappeared today?" May mentioned. She wouldn't have minded a bite to eat either.

"How about I go ahead and make us something?" Caroline insisted. "You can get formally introduced to Tracey at the table."

"All right! Mom always makes the best cooking…" Max cheered as much as he could, still recovering from the emotional breakdown he had just minutes ago. However, unbeknownest to anyone, three very unscrupulous characters were hiding in the bushes, waiting for their next move.

"Now that the twerps Pokemon are tired from that battle, stealing them should be a breeze!" James whispered to his compatriots.

"And we might as well take the older twerps Pokemon as well." Jesse responded, smiling at the prospect of more Pokemon. "Even reinforcements can't stop what we have in store for them."

"Let's get ready" Meowth said, as he picked up a very unusually looking weapon.

-------

Why is Tracey in the Hoenn region? What could Team Rocket be planning? Will Ash ever finally "get it"?

All questions (except maybe the last one) will be answered on the next episode of: The Things that Matter!


	3. James Gets WigglyTough

Entry 3: James gets WigglyTough

"Wow Caroline, this food tastes great!" Tracey complimented with no food in his mouth, as Ash, May, and Max was chowing down quite…messily. Brock and Norman were eating normally, though.

"Yeah, you have to tell me the recipe." Brock concurred, wanting to possibly use it in the future.

"Thank you both, I suppose." Caroline modestly thanked the two men.

"So Tracey, what exactly are you doing here, all the way in Hoenn?" Brock asked after wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Yegheah Tugrashey, irf Pgrapeshore Oeak wbantbed tro shee ush, dgen bwy dbnt hee jrusht gro obur hrere humshelf?" Ash asked horribly while chewing his food. Everyone sweat dropped at Ash with May and Max getting embarrassed.

"Luckily, after traveling with Ash on the Orange Islands, I can still understand him while he's eating." Tracey remarked.

'Wow, the Orange Islands? That's so romantic, I would love to go to the Orange Islands one-day…wait, Ash has been to the Orange Islands? Why didn't I know that…' May wondrously thought as Brock said something she didn't hear, and Ash completely ate his food.

"Well, as you know Professor Oak created the Pokedex." Tracey began, while taking out a Kanto-style Pokedex. Max gushed at the sight of his hero's very own creation. Sure, he had always known about the Hoenn style Pokedex, but a KANTO style one was a rare sight to see here in Hoenn.

"The Pokedex has the data of every Pokemon it's programmed to know of. That is, every one that we program it to memorize. But As you all know, there are still Pokemon being discovered every day, and as the old saying goes, a Professors work is never done."

Ash had known this ever since his starting off to be a Pokemon trainer; he had seen the legendary Ho-oh, and Dexter wasn't able to give data on it.

"There isn't any way that the Professor can go on a journey again, but he still needs to get the data on these new Pokemon. He needs someone to go out in the field and record all of this information." Tracey explained, but Brock raised his right hand.

"But aren't there other Professors in different regions? I mean, I don't know how much more experience Professor Elm has gotten ever since we last saw him, but Professor Birch seems like the "Action Professor" to me. Couldn't other Professors like those two do that kind of job?" Brock asked. After all, how else could these Professors give Pokedex's to young trainers?

"You might think so, but no. Professor Oak is the CENTRAL authority on the Pokedex. There are other Professors in different regions sure, but who do you think gives them the Pokedex style and information?" Tracey rhetorically asked. "I mean he is after all its creator." Tracey noted for the second time in the conversation.

"Man, it must be hard getting all of that information about Pokemon on the Pokedex. I mean, it always gives a lot of information when I use it." May mused, taking out her Hoenn Pokedex.

"That's where I come in. I'm a LOT younger than Professor Oak, so I can travel. And this is the part where I have to ask you Ash." Tracey began, putting his hand on his head, scratching a bit. Ash just looked with curiosity.

"Can I…maybe travel with you again? You have a knack for seeing really rare Pokemon, and always did like traveling with you. Professor Oak suggested it, because it isn't really good to travel alone." Tracey asked, finally.

Max was overjoyed. "Wow, Professor Oaks assistant traveling with my group? Awesome! Can he come with us Ash, can he?" Max asked with his eyes glistening with joy.

"Sure, you can Travel with us, Tracey! The more the merrier!" Ash smiled.

'Wow, Tracey too? Man, I don't think I've ever traveled with five people before. It'll be awesome!' Ash thought, while Max had decided to Ask Tracey questions about Professor Oak. Tracey was happy to answer, but he would soon find out that a Q&A session with Max could get quite tiring.

"Well, I guess one more mouth to feed…" Brock sighed at hearing of more food to buy and more time to cook. He had no problem with that, but it could kind of get to you sometimes.

"Well no need to fear there Brock, I can actually help with cooking myself. Professor Oak always had problems with his other assistants who cooked, so I needed to learn by necessity-"

"Tracey! You have to tell me what Professor Oak does in his spare time!" Max shouted in Tracey's ear, interrupting him from his conversation.

"Um, okay then; hey Brock, you mind letting me talk to Max for a while?" Tracey beseeched, sorry that he had to cut an at least semi-important conversation short.

"Sure, but you might be sorry you did." Brock smirked, looking at Max. He knew what was coming, but decided to let Tracey find out for himself.

"Ah, that was a great err, post-lunch mom. I'm going to take a short rest for a while." May suddenly excused herself. Normally this would be a normal thing to do after an energetic day and a great meal, but something else was up on Brocks mind.

"Well, if you say so dear. The battle can take a lot out for people even on the sidelines." Norman allowed, taking another bite of his food. As May walked towards the way to her room, Brock stood up.

"Hey May, could I ask you something before you take that nap?"

"Um, sure Brock." May casually replied as she walked through the doorway toward her room. Brock followed. That Brock didn't simply ask her the question she found odd; was this a personal question?

"So what's going on, Brock?" May asked.

"Well, I kind of wanted to ask you about the battle with your dad and Ash." Brock revealed.

"Yeah? And what about I-" May started, but then remembered what had happened during the battle.

"…Ah. That. Well, what exactly do you want to know?" May inquired of the aspiring Pokemon Breeder. She felt her body temperature rise slightly.

"Well quite frankly, I'm really surprised that you would actually support someone in the battle. I mean Ash and your own father, it must be a pretty hard decision to make, huh?" Brock explained to her.

"Yeah, that was a tough one." May remarked, thinking of the battle. "I hope I don't have to make a decision like that any time soon." May put her arms over her head, smiling. The smile was not very real; she just wanted to get out of the conversation, and just playing along was the quickest way out.

"Yeah, I guess so. Still though, I'm kind of surprised that you chose Ash. I mean, if Ash challenged my brother Forrest for a gym battle back in Pewter City, the only reason I could think of for supporting Ash is to get back at him for something. Anyway, I haven't been able to understand exactly how a girls mind works yet, and I don't think I'll be able to understand now. Have a nice nap, I guess." Brock finished as he walked back to the dining room. May felt a wave of cool come over her now.

"Phew, that was weird. Why did I go from normal to hot to cold again?...Oh, I better take that nap now.

-------

"Da twoips will neva see dis comin!" Meowth grinned, looking at James.

James was in a Wigglytuff costume. It was skin-tight, and he wore fake ears to copy Wigglytuff. And held a pink microphone. It was perfect. It took months of saving funds, but it was going to be worth it. Jigglypuff got nothing on Wigglytuff's Sing attack. Or rather, James's Sing attack.

"I told you saving up for this would spell doom for the twerps!" James gloated happily.

Jessie was a bit annoyed though. "We don't know if the plan will work yet James. Remember, it'll take more than the twerps own food and a powerful sing attack to defeat them." She noted pessimistically. "I mean, when have our plans ever worked?"

"…Jess is right. Our plans never worked before." Meowth opined.

"Hey, stop being so down in the dumps! We can capture Pikachu this time for sure! No-one can escape the Sing of Wigglytuff!" James passionately announced.

"Well, lets hope so Jimmy-boy…" Meowth sighed, as he and Jessie put on the special earmuffs.

"Now remember, we have to be quiet! If we get caught before we have a chance to implement our plan, we may just be blasting off just too soon!" James whispered to the fellow Rockets as they tip-towed to a spot near where the twerps were eating.

"Are you ready?" James asked them.

"Are you set?" Jessie asked Meowth.

"I'm ready tuh go in tree-" Meowth said as he took out a cannon.

"Two" Jessie said as she aimed the cannon forward.

"ONE!" James shouted at last, by firing the cannon into the house.

And with that, there now stood a hole where there once was none. The blast was loud enough to completely surprise the group eating. There was smoke and dust everywhere, and everyone but Team Rocket coughed from the lack of clean air.

"What was that?" Norman shouted as he looked to see if Max and Caroline were okay.

"Ah hahahahaha!" three voices laughed as the dust and smoke cleared a bit to reveal:

"Prepare for trouble, our entrance is grand!" a familiar female voice announced, her figure coming clear.

"Make it double, we're an amateur band!" a male voice gloated, while a skin-tight costume was becoming more visible.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!" the now completely visible woman revealed.

"James!" he said, with a rose in his mouth, and a microphone in his hand.

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth dat's right!"

"Waaabbuffett!"

"Team Rocket!" Ash, Brock and Max shouted, seeing the trio once again.

"Pikapika!"

"You guys again? Do you ever quit?" Tracey shouted at the Rocket's.

"Never twerp of old, now if you will excuse us, James is going to give you a dazzling performance!" Jessie held her hands up, pointing to a stage that seemed to come out of nowhere. James leaped to the stage in his Wigglytuff costume with ease, as Wabbuffett and Meowth clad in Jigglypuff costumes that also appeared to come out of nowhere were on the sidelines. They too had weird looking earmuffs on.

"You're not going to get away with anything this time!" Ash shouted at them, reaching for a Pokeball. "Torkoal, I chose-" Ash was about to send out, but was interrupted by James singing in a…very familiar kind of voice.

"James, jamesjamesjamesjames, James James James, Jamesjames james! James, james james jamesjames, james James James" James sung with utter joy. He was singing in the style of Jigglypuff, and using a very special microphone to do so. He had always wondered what it would be like to sing his own name over and over again, and had finally gotten the chance. But if he was expecting a good crowd, he was sadly mistaken.

"AHAHAHAHHAAAAHAHA!" Ash, Brock and Tracey laughed uncontrollably. Max and Caroline looked like they were utterly disgusted. Norman and Pikachu were sweat-dropping like crazy; amazed that ANYONE had the gall (or courage?) to do something like THAT!

"What the heck are you doing?" Norman demanded at them.

"James, james jamesjames! James, james Jamesjames!"

"He's—ahahaha-singing exactly like-ahahahah-Jigglypuff!" Ash attempted to get out, but had a hard time trying to do so; this the most utterly hilarious thing he had ever seen!

"Hoho-hehaha" Tracey tried to get out, but then shook his head to try and get rid of the hilarity that was James singing his name over and over again.

"Marril, I chooow, wha?" he attempted to send out his Marril, but failed. For some reason he was feeling someone…drowsy…

"James Jamesjamesjamesjames Jamesjamesjames!"

"Whas goingon? I feel slee, hehehe" Ash tried to say, but just laughed himself into unconsciousness.

"You shouldn't have laughed at James, twerps. The microphone he's using is a Number-1, Grade-A, Super Wigglytuff Lullaby Microphone! Guaranteed to make all its listeners go to sleep or your money back guaranteed!" she advertised.

"And naw you twoips are finally goin to be defeated!" Meowth gloated with glee. Now everyone but Norman was completely asleep.

"Vigoroth, I cho-"

"Mm, mm, mmm. I wouldn't do that if I were you. Vigoroth is still weak from his earlier battle. Sending him out now would only make it easier for us." Jessie taunted as Norman finally fell to the ground, asleep.

James finally stopped singing. Team Rocket looked around. Everyone but they were asleep. Norman and Tracey both had Pokeballs in their hands.

"We…won?" Meowth gasped.

"I guess we did." Jessie said, without knowing the full meaning of her words. Then it hit her.

"We…we defeated the twerps!" James gleefully shouted.

"I don't believe it. We finally have the perfect opportunity to capture Pikachu!" Jessie cheered.

"Why stop wit Pikachu? Da twoips and dere parents have a whole bunch a Pokemon woit stealin'!" Meowth suggested.

"Perfect idea Meowth, lets take their Pokeball, Pikachu and scram!" Jessie concurred, but as she Meowth and James went to take the Pokeballs, the noticed something that looked even better: food!

"Uhm…" Meowth babbled, drooling at the food.

"Just…" James drooled.

"A little." Jessie completed.

And with that, Team Rocket starting stuffing their faces.

-------

"Ah, that was a great nap." May whispered, as she got out of her bed. She had only dosed off for about 20 minutes, but it felt like paradise after.

"I'd better see how everyone's doing." She told herself, as she walked out her room. However, as she neared the doorway to the dining room, she would soon hear voices that she would never expect.

"That microphone really worked, didn't it Jess!" James gloated. He had been the one to finally pull the twerps into submission, and he would finally get the glory he deserved.

"Which is why we are eating like royalty on this occasion. No more having to eat as fast as we can and run for it, we finally get our big break!" Jessie cheered. Of course, she was speaking for only herself and James; Meowth ate fast like all other times.

'Oh no, Team Rocket! How did they get here? How did they manage to beat everyone's Pokemon?' May thought in fear as she tip-towed a little closer to hear the conversation, hoping to hear something Team Rocket wouldn't have wanted her to hear.

"Yogbzh grobts choz crel uhh." Meowth attempted to say, but had too much food in his mouth.

"Meowth, don't talk with your mouth full. Enjoy the meal, it's the least we should get after all those years trying to capture Pikachu.

Meowth swallowed the food in his mouth with a sigh of relief. "I was tryin' tuh ask James how he found out 'bout dat Wigglytuff micraphone."

'Wigglytuff microphone? What's that?" She then remembered that Wigglytuff sounded a lot like Jigglypuff.

"Well, I had thought of how many times we had been put to sleep by Jigglypuff, and decided to find something that would have a similar effect!" James explained.

"And you found something even better than what we had expected. To think, a microphone that can make people without the proper headgear fall asleep would just so happen to lye down in a store somewhere!" Jessie grinned.

"Dey nevah even had a chance! No Pokemon coming out cuz dere asleep!" Meowth continued.

'Everyone's asleep!' May realized, horrified that such a potent weapon could fall into the hands of Team Rocket. 'What am I going to do? If I try to get my Pokeballs, they will notice me, but I have no chance if I can't use my Pokemon! And I can't take on all three of them at once!' May thought as quickly as possible. She then went on to think of her options. She had hoped that they were to busy eating to notice that she was absent from the group.

And then in hit her.

'Prof. Oak! He has Ash's other Pokemon with him, and he's really smart! I bet he'd know what to do!' May realized, and immediately tip toed away from the door, and toward the back exit. She knew that there was a re-dial on the videophone, and even if someone had already called over it, that Nurse Joy would likely know Oak's phone number.

She had finally reached the back door, and opened it ever so slightly, and as she walked out, she decided not to risk closing the door in case Team Rocket heard her.

And then, she ran as fast as she could to the Pokemon Center.

'Got to run as fast as I can! Who knows how long it will take for them to realize that I'm gone!' May thought as she headed for the Center. It wasn't far, being that her father was a gym leader, and Pokemon trainers would need to go to Pokemon Centers after the battles.

She had almost ran into a couple of people, but she had finally made it to the Pokemon Center.

"Nurse Joy, hasanyoneelseusedthephonesince-"

"Whoa May, slow down! Did what?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Sorry, this is an emergency! Has anyone else used the phone since my friend used it?" May asked in a slower voice this time.

"Who's your friend?" Joy asked her.

"The boy with the Pikachu!" May almost shouted this time.

"Ow, not so loud May, there are patients in this Pokemon Center that can't hear loud noises. Me too…anyway, I don't think that anyone has used the phone. It's been a pretty slow day today and-"

"Thanks Nurse Joy!" May bowed, as she darted toward the phone.

"What is going on?" Joy asked aloud as she saw dust behind where May had ran.

May had reached the phone, and pressed redial once, and had tried to hold herself back from pressing buttons like crazy.

_Ringringring! Ringringring! Phone Call! Phone Call!_

'Come on, come on!' May thought as she eagerly waited for the phone to be answered.

_Ringringring! Ringringring! Phone Call! Phone Call!_

'What's taking so long! I hope it's not just that I'm thinking a mile a minu-'

"Hello?" Professor Oak finally answered.

"Professor Oak! Quick, I need your help!" May immediately replied.

"Why hello May what seems to be-"

"No time! Ash and my dad and everyone else have been put to sleep by Team Rocket!"

"What? Team Rocket? How did that happe-oh never mind, but why are you calling me? Surely Team Rocket can be handled by your father Pokemon." Oak reminded the young girl.

"Team Rocket took everyone's Pokeballs! And besides that, they used some weird Wigglytuff device to put everyone asleep. That's why I need you to give me some of Ashes Pokemon that can beat attacks that out them to sleep!"

"What? Why one of Ashes Pokemon? Any of the Pokemon I can lend you could be a help-"

"But I'm not sure they will listen to me! If you give me one of Ashes Pokemon, maybe I could tell them I'm his friend, and Ash is in danger. So hurry, are there any Pokemon strong against sleeping attack that Ash has"

"Of course." Professor Oak answered immediately. "His Snorlax and Noctowl."

May almost jumped for Joy. "You know, I actually recommended that he use these very two Pokemon in his gym battle today, but that stubborn boy-"

"JUST SEND ME THE POKEMON!" May shouted at the rambling Professor.

"Okay, fine! It's a good thing I already had them ready in case Ash changed his mind about me not sending them." Oak informed, as he put a Pokeball in the transporter. A couple of seconds later, it appeared in the holder next to the phone. May immediately picket it up, as Oak sent the next Pokeball through the transporter.

"Alright, thanks Professor Oak!" May quickly thanked as she took both Pokeballs.

"Good luck May." Prof. Oak smiled. He knew that they would be able to get out of this mess. Especially against Team Rocket

-------

"Alright, lets see how this is going to work. Go!" May shouted as she threw one of the Pokeballs. Out of the ball, came a giant Pokemon that looked like it had difficulties moving.

"Snorlax!" the Pokemon cheered, but noticed that it could not recognize anyone. In fact, there was only one person in front of him, and that was a girls clad in red.

"Snor?" The Pokemon questioned, wondering where his master was.

"Snorlax, I'm Ash's friend, May. Ash is in real trouble now, and he needs your help!" May told the Pokemon that could give Slaking a run for its money in being lazy.

"Lax lax, Snorlax snor!" Snorlax responded, rather indignant. He seemed to be skeptical that this girl was somehow related to Ash, and seemed to believe that something sinister was going on.

"Snorlax!" Snorlax said angrily at the young aspiring coordinator.

"Oh, no time! Come on out!" May shouted in desperation, hoping that Noctowl would respond in a much more positive way.

However, this Pokemon was a strong contrast to Snorlax. When it appeared out of it's Pokeball, it glittered in a way that looked beautiful, even for beautiful Pokemon. When it came out of it's Pokeball, the flying owl had kept in flight, also looking for his master.

"Wow, I didn't know that Noctowl looked so pretty!" May gushed, and took out her Pokedex.

"Noctowl, the Owl Pokemon. When it needs to think, it rotates its head 180 degrees to sharpen its intellectual power." Dextrina said. However, the Noctowl looked different in the Pokedex, than it did in real life.

"Hey, this Noctowl in the Pokedex doesn't look like Ash's. Wow, this must be one of those oddly colored Pokemon I've heard about! I can't believe Ash has one, I'm sooo jealo-WAIT A MINUTE, Ash needs out help! Noctowl, listen, I'm Ash's friend, and he's in trouble now I need you to help me!" she beseeched the flying Pokemon.

"Hou?" The Pokemon hooted as it looked closely at the girl. Noctowl was a very smart Pokemon, and was not easily taken in by tricks. But could this girl be telling the truth?

"Lax Lax, Snorlax snor! Snorlax lax Snorlax Snorlax." Snorlax conversed with Noctowl. Apparently, it was trying to convince the flyer that this girl had no connection to Ash, and that they should try to find their master. But Noctowl had his own way of finding things out.

"Houoooouuuuu" Noctowl hooted as he used Hypnosis on May. Suddenly, May got really dizzy.

"Houhou, hou!" The Pokemon commanded.

"I am May. I am ten years old and want to be a Pokemon coordinator. I travel with my brother Max, my friend Brock, and my really good friend Ash." May smiled when she said Ash's name. "My favorite food is noodles and-"

But that was all Noctowl needed to hear. He undid the Hypnosis attack, and May came back to normal.

"Huh? Wah..What happened?" May asked herself. And then she saw Noctowl and Snorlax in front of her.

Noctowl's beak couldn't make a smile, but after seeing the Pokemon's eyes, she could tell it had been the cause of her apparently dosing off.

"Hey what did you do?" May complained, as she looked at her Pokedex.

"Noctowl's Special Attack: Hypnosis." Dextrina said.

"Oh, so I was hypnotized. But will you listen to me now?" May asked the two Pokemon.

"Snor!"

"Hou!"

"Alright, but what attacks will work against that Wigglytuff machine?" May asked Dextrina.

"Snorlax's attacks: Tackle, Amnesia, Lick, Yawn, Rest, Snore, Sleep Talk."

"Alright! Snore and Sleep Talk would be able to beat sleep!" May cheered, and then put the Pokedex on Noctowl's page.

"Noctowl's attacks: Tackle, Foresight, Hypnosis, Reflect, Confusion, Take Down"

"Huh? There aren't any attacks that Noctowl can use to stop sleep…oh whatever, we have to go now! We have to save Ash!" May told the two Pokemon.

"Snor!"

"Hou!"

And with that, May Snorlax and Noctowl ran (and flew) toward Mays house, hoping that Team Rocket hadn't already taken the Pokeballs and left.

-------

"Ah, that food was great. I kind of wish the twerps were awake so we could get some recipe's" James sighed with relief.

"Don't Jynx it James, we've had our fill, now lets scrap from this place and take the Pokeballs with us. Meowth, you have the bag of Pokeballs?" Jessie asked the feline.

"Yup, dere right heeya. All Pokeballs accounted for, Jessie!" Meowth gleefully reported.

"I can't believe were finally going to get some rare and powerful Pokemon to the boss!" James grinned. "And not just Pikachu too! We have a Grovyle, a Corphish, a Torkoal."

Meowth continued the trend: "A Mudkip, a Lombre, a Forretress!"

Jessie took the baton: "A Torchic, a Skitty, a-" It was at this moment that Jessie froze.

"What's the matter, Jess? You look pale?" James remarked.

"James…look at where we put the sleeping twerps. What do you see?" Jessie slowly pointed to where they had lain the members of Ash's group.

"Well, I see the twerps. Who else would be there?" James inquired.

"It's not who is there, you moron. Who is missing in this picture! I'll give you a hint, it's the name of a month!" Jessie spelled it out.

Meowth and James then figured it out. "Oh no!" They said at the same time.

"Oh yes!" A girls voice was heard coming from the same place that Team Rocket appeared.

"Prepare for trouble, Team Rocket!

Now you are the one's who are going to get it!" she said with the Team Rocket Motto instrumental in the background.

"Wha?" The Team Rocket trio's mouths opened.

"To protect my friends from you three stealing

To get each of eternally out of my kitchen!

To denounce the evils of Meowth Jessie and James!

To show you that I'm not playing any games!" she recited with glee. This, she could get used to!

"Oh dear G-" Team Rocket all said at the same time, so completely taken aback by what they were seeing.

"May is my name!

Team Toy-boy's not losing this one today!

Surrender now, or you're going to pay!"

"Snorlax!"

"Hou!"

"Team Toy-boy!" Jessie James and Meowth all shouted at the same time before realizing what they had just done.

"Wait a minute, we're not the good guys!" Jessie yelled out.

"I have to admit, using the phrase "toy-boy" was a great touch, but we are the one who will be doing the motto here!" James shouted.

"Dat's right" Meowth pun-ished May.

"Too bad, it was really fun to actually do a motto. Now, why don't you take the motto's advice and go away! As you can see, I have Ash's Pokemon with me. So you can't win!" May argued at Team Rocket. However, even after they caught sight of Snorlax and Noctowl they just smirked.

"I'm afraid that not even a legendary Pokemon will be able to help you here. James, hit it!" Jessie commanded as she and Meowth put on their earmuffs.

"James, jamesjamesjames-"

"Now Noctowl, do what we planed! Use Hypnosis on me to stop the Sing! Snorlax, get ready to attack!" May commanded, cutting James off from his singing.

"-james , James James James, Jamesjames james!" James sung. However, Noctowl immediately used Hypnosis on May, much to the shock of Jessie and Meowth. Using a Pokemon attack on yourself? It was extremely risky, and only daredevils usually did something like that!

However, once the Hypnosis attack was complete, it was clear that May was in a state of…Confusion/Drowziness. James's singing didn't seem to be having any effect on her now.

Snorlax was another story. It was fast asleep, like a baby (snoring loudly, though).

But Noctowl…was wide-awake.

"Wha? Why isn't James's singing working?" Jessie gasped. James had to stop singing when it saw Noctowl unaffected by the sing.

"Who cares, it's just a Noctowl! What could one Pokemon do against ours?" James argued, while taking out a Pokeball.

"Cacnea, I chose you!"

"Go Seviper, and Dustox!"

The cactus, snake, and moth Pokemon all appeared, ready for battle.

"And don't forget Meowth!" Meowth announced, getting in the battle as well.

"Seviper, use Poison Tail!" Jessie ordered. Seviper attempted to slam the Poison Tail on Noctowl, but Noctowl was able escape fairly easily.

"Cacnea, use Pin Missile!" James shouted. Cacnea's attack took Noctowl by surprise and got many hits.

"Hou!" Noctowl hooted in Pain.

"Now Dustox, use Poison Sting!" Jessie called on her other Pokemon. Dustox's Poison Sting also got hits on Noctowl.

"Hoouu!" Noctowl groaned in pain. Noctowl couldn't make a decisive attack, as his trainer was not in a position to give an order, and his friend had ordered him to put herself out of commission.

"Hah! You think you can defeat us? No matter how smart you are, you will never be able to get out of this situation!" James taunted. Noctowl hooted in a hostile manner.

"Dis is ovah! I'm gonna use Fury Swiped on dis owl so we can split!" Meowth told the other Rocket members, as he leapt toward Noctowl. He was just about to get a direct hit, when suddenly…

…Snorlax.

The giant was up. And boy was he scary looking. He had grabbed Meowth by the tail.

"Eeeeeeeh! Snorlax? But how? My singing was supposed to put him asleep!" James screamed.

"Uh James, I think this is…" Jessie started, but Snorlax apparently had just punched Meowth with a glowing hand. As Meowth hit the ground, ice had engulfed him.

"…Ice Punch?" James guessed?

"Half-right James. This is…" Jessie stuttered, only to cut off by Snorlax. This tie, however, the attack was…

Hyper Beam. The beam had hit Jessie, James, Meowth, Seviper, Cacnea, and Dustox head on.

"Sleeeeep Taaaalk!" Jessie groaned as they were now doing what Rockets does best.

"What I'd give to wake up from this sleep!" James cried as his microphone, now completely broken, had dropped to the ground.

"I guess you could say we need to take a Rest from dis stuff!" Meowth pun-ished himself. And then the trio once again shouted:

"Looks like Team Rockets Blasting off again!"

"Wabbuffett!" Wabbuffett appeared out of nowhere.

As the smoke cleared, Noctowl looked at the now sleeping Snorlax. Noctowl had realized that May's plan had worked. Of course, it worked a lot better than she thought it would. She didn't know that Noctowl was able to stay awake from Sing attacks.

Noctowl then decided to de-hypnotize her. He headed over to her, still a bit weak from the Poison Sting. He shot a Hypnosis at her eyes, and she "awoke" from her trance.

"Uh..huh? I'm awake? Well, I guess I am…

…

Wait a minute, what happened?" May screamed, as she saw the absence of Team Rocket. Noctowl in front of her looked wounded, and Snorlax was asleep.

"Wait, how were you able to get me awake from the Hypnosis? Didn't you get sung to sleep?" May asked the now sweating Pokemon.

Noctowl shook it's head; "Hou hou houhou hou hou houhou." The Pokemon hooted.

"What? You were able to…stay awake?" May asked, hoping she interpreted the hooting correctly.

"Hou…" The exhausted Pokemon hooted.

"Hey, you don't look so good…" May noticed, as she started to hear some familiar voices in the background.

"Oh, my head." Max whined, as he rubbed his hand on his head.

"How long were we out for?" Norman asked no one in particular.

"I don't kno-Whu-where are my Pokemon!" Ash shouted, completely waking everyone up now.

"Ash, Brock, Max! Mom, dad, you're all awake!" May squealed with joy. Ash was still frantic, however, looking for his Pokeball that were absent from his belt.

"Pikapika." Pikachu mumbled lightly, still wanting to get some sleep.

"Ash, your Pokeball are right there, on that stage that Team Rocket set up." May informed him.

"Team Rocket!...Um…where did they go? The last I remembered, they…sung…us to sleep, heh." Ash laughed at remembering James sing.

"Well, they're gone now. And it's all thanks to your Noctowl and Snorlax!" May revealed to him.

"What? Noctowl and Snorlax are here? Where?" Ash said, facing the opposite direction of Snorlax, and not noticing Noctowl near May.

"I was wondering who's Snorlax that was. It looks just as big as I thought it would." Caroline mentioned, looking at the sleeping Pokemon.

"So, they somehow defeated Team Rocket? But how? How did they even get here?" Ash asked, confused, but elated that he was able to see his Pokemon.

"I found out Team Rockets plan while they were eating the rest of our food-"

"Oh man, I really liked that food!"

"-And I ran as fast as I could to the Pokemon Center to call Professor Oak. I knew that if I was able to get some of your Pokemon, they might listen to me if they knew you were in trouble." May told the Pokemon trainer sheepishly, scratching her head.

"Wow, that was cool thinking May." Ash complimented.

May's smile grew at the comment. "Well, it was nothing. Maybe Noctowl could tell you how he defeated Team Rocket. I know I told Snorlax to use Sleep Talk when I-"

"…My Snorlax know Sleep Talk?" Ash asked May, surprised that his Snorlax knew such a move.

"What!" May asked Ash, hoping he was joking. "You didn't know he knew Slee…But I could have…I mean he could have…" May stuttered, her jaw now dropped very low.

"Man, that was pretty lucky, huh?" Ash sweat-dropped, looking at his friend, now completely stuttering. At that moment, Noctowl flew lightly toward Ash.

"Hououhou!" Noctowl hooted as hard as he could, but struggled.

"Hey Noctowl, thanks for helping us out. It's great to see you again." Ash formally greeted his Owl Pokemon.

"Hou" Noctowl hooted lightly now; it was also now evident that Noctowl has been wounded pretty badly.

"Hey Ash, that Noctowl looks different than the Noctowls in the books a read. Is that its real color?" Max asked out of the blue.

"Yeah, it is Max. The Researcher I found who was also trying to capture this Noctowl noticed that it had an unusual-…Noctowl, are you okay?" Ash asked his Pokemon, now completely aware of the breathing it had been doing. "We had better take you to the Pokemon Center." Ash suggested. "Hey May, did you bring their Pokeballs?" Ash asked her.

"Um, yeah, here they are." May replied, giving the Pokeballs to Ash.

"Alright, Noctowl and Snorlax, return!" Ash shouted returning the two Pokemon to their Pokeballs.

"Ash, I bet it was a poison sting attack from Dustox. It must have poisoned Noctowl." Brock deduced.

"Well, you had better go give it to Nurse Joy so she can take a look at it." Tracey told Ash.

"Alright Tracey, I'll do that. Let's go, guys." Ash told his friends, hoping it wasn't as bad as it sounded.

-------

10 minutes later

-------

"So, how are they, Nurse Joy?" Ash asked the Pokemon Nurse.

"Well, your Pikachu, Grovyle, Snorlax and Corphish seem to be okay, your Noctowl has a case of poisoning. A nights rest at the Pokemon Center for Grovyle, Corphish, and Noctowl should do the trick. Snorlax and Pikachu seem to be alright" Nurse Joy told him.

"Phew, I thought so. I was thinking it was a worse case of poisoning for Noctowl. Thanks Nurse Joy." Ash thanked, as he went back to May, Max, Brock, and apparently, the newest member of the team: Tracey.

"So Ash, that Noctowl is a really rare Pokemon?" Max asked the older Pokemon trainer.

"I suppose it is." Ash answered simply, still a bit worried about his Pokemon.

"Max, you should have seen how it comes out of its Pokeball. It looked like glitter appeared all around it, kind of like how you roll out a red carpet for a movie star. Your Noctowl would probably get great appeals in Pokemon Contests, Ash." May tried to cheer Ash up, noticing the sorrow on his face.

"Heh, well, I don't think I'm going to enter a Pokemon contest anytime soon." Ash smiled.

'Good.' May thought. 'I don't like seeing Ash frown like that. It doesn't seem natural to see Ash miserable.'


End file.
